Zinc for Taste And Smell

Research suggests that zinc may play a role in taste and smell function, though the evidence remains mixed and largely inconclusive. Several reviews spanning decades acknowledge zinc as a potential treatment for taste and smell disorders, with a 1978 review noting zinc therapy as an option for unexplained taste loss and a 1994 review listing zinc among targeted treatments for drug-induced sensory dysfunction. However, a 2015 review of interventions for cancer-related taste and smell changes found that of four studies examining zinc supplementation, only two reported benefits while the other two did not, and a 2021 scoping review similarly found insufficient evidence to draw firm conclusions about zinc's effectiveness due to variability in study designs and populations. A 2025 prospective study in patients with severe eating disorders observed significantly lower zinc levels compared to healthy controls and noted zinc's known roles in appetite and taste regulation, suggesting a biological plausibility for the connection. Overall, while there is a longstanding theoretical basis and some supportive findings linking zinc to chemosensory function, the body of evidence—composed primarily of narrative reviews, scoping reviews, and observational studies rather than large randomized controlled trials—does not yet establish zinc as a reliably effective intervention for taste and smell disorders, and researchers consistently call for more rigorous studies to clarify its therapeutic potential.